These UK Cities Have The Smallest Home Deposits In 2026

For Aberdeen homebuyers, it's the easiest to afford a home deposit in the UK, according to an October 2026 real estate report. Despite the market cooling all across the country, many regions remain pricey, and a new study by trade tools and fixings supplier Tradefix Direct (https://tradefixdirect.com) mapped the top 10 UK cities where deposits are the most affordable.

• Aberdeen home sellers ask for a deposit of just £6,550 on average, which is just one-fifth of annual local salaries.
• The home deposit in Leicester amounts to just £11.3K, but it's still almost 45% of the local income.
• Residents of Birmingham get an easier path to homeownership thanks to a combination of low deposits and the highest salaries in the top 10, at £37.7K a year.

The study identified the cities with the lowest home deposits by looking at 2 price factors: how much the deposit amounts to if calculated as 5% of the average regional house price and how much of the annual net salary it would take. While the cities are ranked from the lowest to the highest deposit sum, the salary context helps to better understand if locals can actually afford homebuying in the region.

Here is how the UK cities with the most affordable home deposits compare:

| City | Average Annual Net Salary | Average House Price (£) | Deposit | Deposit (£) | Deposit as % of Annual Salary | |---|---|---|---|---|---| | Aberdeen | £31,524 | £131,000 | 5% | £6,550 | 20.8% | | Belfast | £29,144 | £185,000 | 5% | £9,250 | 31.7% | | Liverpool | £29,431 | £189,036 | 5% | £9,452 | 32.1% | | Nottingham | £30,636 | £190,200 | 5% | £9,510 | 31.0% | | Glasgow | £30,787 | £194,000 | 5% | £9,700 | 31.5% | | Newcastle upon Tyne | £32,092 | £207,547 | 5% | £10,377 | 32.3% | | Sheffield | £28,854 | £219,713 | 5% | £10,986 | 38.1% | | Leicester | £25,589 | £227,322 | 5% | £11,366 | 44.4% | | Coventry | £30,181 | £227,679 | 5% | £11,384 | 37.7% | | Birmingham | £37,712 | £234,257 | 5% | £11,713 | 31.1% |

You can access the full report findings by following this link: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vQJ_14xbXu11-R8rvXApO9XQ8qr_Xyx252zwslMD0LPV684TrSc-5uGoZxS82LK5zLU1aaHnQSMtHc9/pubhtml

1. Aberdeen

• Average annual net salary: £31.5K
• Average house price: £131K
• Deposit: 5%
• Deposit total: £6,550
• Deposit as a share of annual salary: 20.8%

The house deposit is the cheapest in Aberdeen, at only £6,550. This low price comes from affordable housing, and the local real estate market puts a price tag of £131K on a home on average. This works out as a beneficial deal for Aberdeen residents, as this deposit is only one-fifth of their annual net income (20.8%), and not just an affordable purchase for newcomers from larger cities.

2. Belfast

In second place is Belfast, where homebuyers need to pay £9,250 for a deposit. This is a £2,700 jump from Aberdeen, but it's still the second-cheapest deposit value in the UK. Homes here cost around £185K, but local salaries are lower than in Aberdeen. With an annual net salary of £29.4K, locals would spend 31.7% of it on a deposit.

3. Liverpool

Liverpool has the third smallest deposits in the country, with just a £200 markup over Belfast. The real estate is a bit pricier, too, averaging £189K, but the salaries are almost the same. With these conditions, Liverpool locals have to save almost a third of their annual income (32.1%) on a home deposit, making homeownership here a more attractive option for people earning higher salaries outside of Liverpool.

4. Nottingham

Nottingham ranks fourth, with an average deposit of just over £9,500. In the city, the £190.2K is the average budget for a home, almost £60K more expensive than in Aberdeen. Similar to Liverpool or Belfast, Nottingham residents will need around a third of their annual salary for the deposit, which can be hard to save for.

5. Glasgow

Glasgow takes fifth spot, and here, homebuyers need to save £9,700 for a down payment. A regular home goes for £194K on the local real estate market, while salaries struggle to catch up with these prices. Glasgow residents take home £30.7K a year, and for a full deposit they would need to spend 31.5% of that.

Paul Kershaw from Tradefix Direct commented on the study:

"Nationwide's 2026 affordability report found that saving a 10% deposit on a typical UK property takes almost six years at current income levels, but that figure assumes you're saving for the national average, not for Aberdeen or Belfast. Aberdeen's £6,550 deposit at 5% could be saved in roughly eight months on local wages, which is a fundamentally different conversation about homeownership timelines. Scotland now has the lowest house price-to-earnings ratio in the UK at 2.9, For first-time buyers, it's the difference between getting on the ladder this year and waiting until your mid-thirties."

ENDS

When using the data, please credit: https://tradefixdirect.com